CHICAGO - Senior right fielder Luke Gregerson (Lyons, Ill./Morton) had his second straight big game to help lead Saint Xavier University to a 7-4 road win over Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) baseball action Thursday in Chicago. Gregerson finished the game 2-for-5 at the plate with two runs scored and three RBI. He also earned the save Thursday, his sixth of the year, taking the mound in the ninth inning with two outs and the bases loaded to record the final out of the game on a strikeout. The Cougars improve to 25-23 overall with the victory and win the CCAC title outright with a 16-2 league mark.

After neither team scored in the game's first three innings, SXU broke up the 0-0 tie with a RBI groundout to the IIT shortstop, which brought Gregerson home from third. The Scarlet Hawks answered with two runs in the bottom of the fourth due to a fielding error by Saint Xavier to take a 2-1 lead into the fifth. However, a big two-out error by IIT in the top of the fifth kept the inning alive for the Cougars and Gregerson delivered with a two-RBI single to cap a three-run inning.

With a 4-2 lead, SXU posted three more runs in the top of the seventh on a RBI single by Gregerson and later scored on a fielding error by the Scarlet Hawks at second base. IIT was able to plate two runs in the bottom of the ninth to trim the Cougars' lead to three, 7-4. However, with the bases loaded and two outs, Gregerson came out to the mound to record the game's final out and secure the victory in relief.

Freshman rightie Dan Miller (Joliet, Ill./Joliet Catholic) picked up his seventh win of the season (7-1) for Saint Xavier throwing the first seven innings of the game and allowing just four hits, two runs (one earned), and two walks with three strikeouts. Senior left fielder Chris Gruber (Joliet, Ill./Joliet Catholic) also had a nice day at the plate for SXU going 2-for-5 with two doubles and two runs scored.

The Cougars (25-23 overall, 16-2 CCAC) wrap up their 2006 conference schedule on Saturday, April 29, with a CCAC doubleheader against Judson College (Ill.) in Elgin, Ill. Start time for Saturday's twinbill is 4 p.m.